As a coffee-brewing device popularized in France, a French press is often credited for producing a stronger, creamier coffee than produced by other brewing devices or techniques. Mostly considered as the premier method for brewing a high quality coffee beverage, usage of the French press generally contributes to a coffee having great flavor and consistency due, at least in part, to being able to control the extraction time and delivery of oils that are frequently trapped in the filters used by other brewing devices.
The French press may also be referred to as a press pot, coffee press, coffee plunger, or cafetière. Although some may discern a technical distinction amongst the aforementioned devices, as used in herein, the expressions “French press,” “press pot,” “coffee press,” “coffee plunger,” and “cafetière” shall be deemed to have the same meaning and will be used interchangeably. Typically, the French press includes a glass, plastic, or similarly rigid jug having a cylindrical shape. The French press is equipped with a lid and a plunger that fits tightly inside the jug. The plunger includes a fine wire or nylon mesh that serves as a filter. To brew coffee, coffee having a coarse grind is placed inside of the jug, and hot water is poured over the grinds. The coffee is allowed to steep for a few minutes, and then a plunger is depressed into the bottom to separate the grinds from the liquid. Afterwards, the coffee can be poured from a spout in the jug into a cup or other container for drinking while the grinds remain trapped underneath the filter at the bottom of the jug.
After partaking of the coffee, thoroughly removing and disposing of the coffee grinds from the bottom of the coffee press is difficult and time-consuming. A common technique for removing grinds is to fill the French press with water to make the grinds more liquid and less paste-like. The water is swirled inside the French press, and the contents are dumped into a sink. Discarding them into the sink generally creates a cumbersome mess; however the larger drawback to this technique is that the accumulation of grinds in the pipes often clogs the plumbing.
A common technique for cleaning the grinds from a French press involves using a large spoon and painstakingly scooping and scraping the grinds out of the French press. Yet, another technique is to knock the French press against a soft-edged garbage pail and hope the grinds will simply fall into the pail, this results most often in only partially removing the grinds with the remainder adhering to the sides of the cafetière. This latter technique is also problematic because, along with the grinds some liquid always remains at the bottom of the coffee press and when disposed inside a pail, the water content can leak though a porous trash bag or pail; additionally, this technique does not completely remove the grinds, since much of the grinds remain adhering to the sides or bottom of the French press. The various methods engaged in removing grinds, such as the spooning and dumping techniques waste generous amounts of time and effort, and rarely completely remove the grinds.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a device and method that can take the coffee grinds out of the bottom of a French press easily, neatly, quickly, efficiently, thoroughly, and effectively without damaging the plumbing or resulting in more of a mess.